2026
Automotive
Reducing Automotive Production Costs with Pumpable Foam Solutions
At 180°C, the heat-reactive beads of sealant expand to eight times their original size in the body shop oven – filling a wide range of cavities with precision. This innovative Sika technology helps automakers to cut costs and work more efficiently. Traditional methods rely on manually applied injection molded and extruded baffle parts and tapes. Last-minute design changes often lead to costly retooling for individually engineered parts.
Developed with leading OEMs, this robot-applied, one-component, heat-reactive and high expandable cavity sealer adds another smart tool to the body shop toolbox. Faster. More efficient. Already in serial production for millions of vehicles at major OEMs, the technology continues its global roll-out.
Automated High Performance
Sika has long played a key role in automotive noise damping and sealing solutions. Its products are used in over 50% of all vehicles produced annually¹ , including more than 400 million parts based on its SikaBaffle® and SikaReinforcer® technologies. The latest innovation is a one-component pumpable foam solution that’s applied as a bead and expands into a foam during the baking process.
Pumpable foam technology opens up entirely new possibilities for new designs and cost-saving automation solutions wherever a cavity needs to be closed. “This is a great example of how Sika, together with its customers, is using innovation to move the industry forward,” says Sika’s President Scott Henry, Automotive and Industry Americas. “Our pumpable foam solution eliminates manual steps, and helps customers build lighter, stronger and quieter vehicles.”
Years of Close Collaboration
While the pumpable solution may now seem obvious, getting there was far from straightforward. Developing, specifying and validating the right material for serial production took years of close collaboration. Sika’s materials engineers worked closely with leading OEMs to ensure safe, high-performance cavity sealing. The material had to perform flawlessly: no sagging, great open time performance and wash-off resistance of the applied beads, uniform expansion over a wide temperature range and excellent corrosion resistance.
Scalable Efficiency Through Smart Automation
“This new pumpable foam solution is truly a game-changer,” says Danijel Radivojevic, Product Manager at Sika. The innovation has been named a finalist for the 2025 Automotive News Pace Award.
Developed as an automated and flexible solution, the pumpable foam innovation now enables significant savings across multiple OEMs and is being rolled out globally. “Several automakers are already designing new models with the flexibility of pumpable foams in mind,” Radivojevic adds.
Speed and Design Freedom
“What sets SikaSeal®-832 apart is that it’s a truly innovative, one-component, heat-reactive and high expandable cavity sealer that can handle a versatile range of gaps or spaces,” explains Radivojevic. “It can be applied with standard pumping equipment already present in most BIW shops, eliminating the need for a large capex investment. This offers greater design freedom and significant cost savings.”
The pumpable material is a true hybrid, explains Radivojevic, combining several of Sika’s technologies. SikaSeal® and SikaPower® build the chemical and application base while SikaBaffle® provides the expansion characteristics and the function needed to effectively seal complex cavities. So, what kind of savings can be expected? While industrywide figures aren’t publicly available, our SikaSeal® pumpable foams are delivering significant reductions in labor costs, design and tooling expenses.
Extending the Possibilities to Seal Cavities
“This new technology offers a smart, automated solution for sealing complex cavities, including unusual geometries or areas that were previously too difficult to reach,” says Radivojevic. “It extends our portfolio of NVH options available to OEMs – simplifying assembly, reducing complexity and opening the door to more efficient vehicle manufacturing.”
A Smarter Way to Build
As the automotive industry shifts toward more efficient and flexible manufacturing, solutions like Sika’s pumpable foams are setting a new standard. Combining advanced material science with smart automation, SikaSeal® pumpable foams help OEMs streamline production and rethink conventional design limits. “It’s more than just a cavity sealer,” says Radivojevic, “It’s a smarter way to build. And with global adoption accelerating, it’s helping drive the automotive industry forward.”
Advantages of Pumpable Foam Solutions
• High volume expansion over a broad temperature range
• Cost reduction through ease of automation
• Eliminates need for tooling investment
• Access to Sika R&D team with deep automotive expertise
• Extensive experience with both automotive OEMs and suppliers
• Excellent performance to meet demanding OEM requirements
¹ Sika Global Automotive Key Figures Report, 2023
>50 %
of vehicles produced annually use Sika products and technologies
Over 30 %
interior noise reduction in vehicles thanks to Sika’s acoustic solutions
>400 million
parts based on SikaBaffle® and SikaReinforcer® technologies are supplied annually to the global automotive industry
>20 %
weight reduction made stronger and safer each year with our body shop adhesives
>600 million
parts based on our SikaDamp®, SikaBaffle® and SikaReinforcer® technologies supplied annually for automotive assembly, enabling better vehicles